Pre-Roman Mining Activities in the El Molar-Bellmunt- Falset District (Tarragonia, Spain): Indirect Proofs Based on Lead Isotopes Analysis

[EN] The Molar-Bellmunt-Falset (MBF) mining district was an important source of lead and silver from medieval times to the 20th century, as many historical documents show. Pre-Roman operations have not been documented in the area, but a few fragments of Roman pottery were recovered during 20th century mining. Two field surveys did not provide any evidence of ancient exploitation. However, some evidence of lead metallurgy has been documented at some prehistoric sites within the region. This study is based on lead (Pb) isotope analysis (LIA) and tries to identify the provenance of archaeological items prior to the Roman conquest of the region. Early Iron Age occupation horizons show that MBF mineral resources were exploited for their metals. We also try to investigate if archaeological material from other parts of the Iberian Peninsula could be related to the MBF district to infer the patterns of trade

La arqueología de La Plata y su investigación en la Península Ibérica: El proyecto Plata Prerromana en Catalunya

[ES]Peer reviewe

Metallurgical activities in Ampurias (L'escala, Girona, España)

[ES] Ampurias era una colonia griega fundada por los focenses en la primera mitad del siglo VI a.C. y que, a lo largo de los siglos, jugó un importante papel dentro de las dinámicas comerciales marítimas entre colonos e indígenas, contribuyendo de manera significativa al desarrollo de la cultura ibérica. En este yacimiento se han recogido varios restos arqueometalúrgicos, entre los cuales se ha seleccionado una serie de muestras que incluye algunas escorias, fragmentos de masas metálicas en bruto y de un lingote, un bebedero de molde y dos fragmentos de copelas. Con el objetivo de aclarar qué tipo de actividades metalúrgicas se estaban llevando a cabo en Ampurias, se ha efectuado un estudio analítico exhaustivo empleando varias técnicas de laboratorio, como la Espectrometría por Fluorescencia de Rayos X, la Microscopía Óptica y la Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido.[EN] Emporion was a Greek colony founded in the first half of the VI century B.C. by Phocian navigators. It played an important role in the maritime trade between settlers and natives during the following centuries and is a key site to understand the development of the Iberian Culture. This site has yielded abundant archaeometallurgical material from which a series of samples has been selected. The samples include some slags, fragments of raw metallic lumps and of an ingot, a cope mould and two fragments of cupels. In order to determine the metallurgical activities carried out at Ampurias, an exhaustive analytic study was performed employing different laboratory techniques, such as X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Optical Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy.Peer reviewe